SELFRIDGE AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Mich. – U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Leah Voelker assumed command of the 127th Wing and Selfridge Air National Guard Base in a formal ceremony at the base on Dec. 7.
Voelker, a KC-135 Stratotanker pilot who has served her entire 24-year military career in the Michigan Air National Guard, replaces Brig. Gen. Matthew G. Brancato, who had served as the wing’s commander since August 2023. Brancato moved to the National Guard Bureau headquarters near Washington, D.C., where he is now serving as the director of the bureau’s Strategy, Design and Requirements directorate.
“General Voelker is the right person, at the right time, to lead the 127th Wing into a season of unprecedented change, with new missions and new aircraft on the horizon,” said Brig. Gen. Daniel J. Kramer II, assistant adjutant general and commander of the Michigan Air National Guard.
As commander, Voelker will lead a force of 1,500 Citizen-Airmen at Selfridge, including squadrons operating A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft and KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft. The wing will transition to flying the F-15EX Eagle II fighter aircraft, in 2028, and the KC-46 Pegasus aerial refueler, in 2030. In addition to her leadership responsibilities with the wing, Voelker also serves as the commander of the air base, which is home to more than 5,000 service members within more than 40 tenant units from across the Dept. of War and Dept. of Homeland Security.
“Together, we will take on these challenges and continue to not only meet the standard, but to set the standard that our Air Force and our nation expects of us,” Voelker told the assembled Citizen-Airmen of the 127th Wing during the ceremony.
Voelker said the wing’s goals for the year ahead are readiness, “Mission Next” and the team. In 2025, more than 500 127th Wing Citizen-Airmen deployed outside of the United States, More deployments are scheduled for 2026, even as the wing has begun the or the transition to the new aircraft and new missions. To support that transition, nearly $1 billion in infrastructure upgrades and new construction is scheduled to take place at Selfridge through 2031.
“We have a formidable task before us, but our Michigan Airmen have proven time and time again that they are up to the challenge. Already our Airmen, both here at Selfridge, and deployed to locations around the world, have shown that they have the expertise, the resilience and the dedication that our state and nation have come to expect from the 127th Wing,” she said.